How artificial intelligence is quietly transforming the way we grow food — and why the most exciting opportunity has nothing to do with robots harvesting lettuce.
As a result of government efforts and subsidies, we have a NOAA weather system that reports fake data from ghost weather stations. The excuse for this long standing problem is that they can extrapolate data from the remaining, surrounding stations to create data to ascribe to the no longer existing stations. From this kind of “data” the global warming 🤣 predictions have come. How can we prevent such subsidized fakery from governing soil use?? The faked weather data has given us vast lithium mines and wind farms and solar farms on arable land, and forced production of all electric vehicles. What’s to prevent similar damage from increasing government management of soils??
While I like regenerative farming, I fear government oversight.
I do trust John Shewchuk, retired airforce meterologist and consultant meteorologist who has personally located over 200 of the ghost NOAA weather stations during his golden years. One of them is close to weedomland. He's had a lot to do with the ability of people to fly in inclement weather, and I'd bet his life work has even influenced your travels.
My understanding is that these NOAA stations peaked at about 1500 in the 50s and have declined in number ever since, though data is still being attributed to many of them after they disappeared.
Modeling from modelled (fake) "data" is what economists and sociologists do, and it's the little guy who gets most adversely affected by the results.
Just a word of caution and humility when it comes to doing things on a planetary scale. While this is really exciting stuff, the idea of monitoring bird songs triggered my fears that this could play into global surveillance and tokenization of everything. Will a small farmer be forced to do something on his/her land for the 'greater good'? It is in a way reminiscent of Mao's 4 pests campaign which yielded suboptimal results. I like the comment by @randallstoehr that mentioned battery powered drones - at least there you could own the drones and data and be more divorced from big tech (aside from GPS of course).
Very complete and necessary overview. This application of AI is less frightening to me and still needs oversight and direction. A combination of human love of the land and technical support could be ideal. Now we're talking.
"And by 2050, we will need to feed roughly ten billion people. That is a lot of pressure on a system that is already showing cracks."
This seems a shift away from local concerns and backyard farming that have previously been emphasized on this Substack.
Ten billion people. While western civilization has below replacement level birthrates.
I don't want to launch missiles into the yards of people on the other side of the world. I don't want their children to be killed by pharmaceutical malice. But neither do I want to be responsible for feeding them; or for the community behaviors they'll defend with violence and that compound the miseries of their existence.
I want a limited sphere of concern, defined by boundaries and shared values. Sometimes it feels naive and fanciful.
Pretty much on the same page - tho, I’m only had a couple sips of tea so far, so let mull it all over 😉.
Anyway, we don’t HAVE to feed the world: food, energy, technology should be used much like how POTUS Trump was attempting to use tariffs - carrot and stick. For the life of m, don’t understand this predilection to feed/house/muscle up enemies who’ve sworn to put us under.
Ideology matters: you point a missile at me I’m not gonna scratch your back
No no, wouldn’t do that; but consider: the two most populous nations are below repopulation levels (2.1 births/woman) as are all/most western and asian nations. Only Arab and African nations consistently exceed that 2.1 birth rate.
And as I said before, I don’t believe we have an OBLIGATION to feed people who would take/accept our resources but are willing to slit our throats in the dark. And please, don’t try to flip Christ’s words inside out: He was concerned with the individual, not nations - if you want to give your resources to people sworn to kill you, praises (just make sure you’ve paid off your debts (esp to me) before you do so). Not all cultures are equivalent - that some cultures are willing to kill our culture should ( SHOULD ) make that obvious.
Might we better look at this from the standpoint of setting an example that others can learn of, consider results and follow if they wish to develop,for their own benefits?
Sure, to an extent, but keep in mind what the goobers in Gaza did with the resources we’ve given them over the years. If ever there was an excuse to violate the no till protocol to farming - that whole place needs to be tilled as deep and as broad as can happen and let the aboriginals inhabiting it become someone else’s problem.
Even with "friendly" places/nations/people groups, there’s only so much that can be done before you’ve transformed a marginally self sufficient people into dependents. That we see the same results in our own nation ought’a be warning enough that doing the same TO others ought’a be discouraged. Think about it, we’ve nearly impoverished the productive class in America in an effort to lift people out of poverty - with little success, where in the world has our transfer of wealth been shown to do what it was advertised as doing? Instead, we’ve bred resentment and animosity. We’ve replaced wisdom with feel-goodism to the detriment of nearly everyone.
We all know the ploy is to keep the 'little' people down, but some of us just won't! (stay down). There is some strength in each person Who won't allow "out there" to dictate their lives if they listen.
How many times do we have to hear, We 'Care' about you. We 'Want to Help you'. What a racket, and yes they broadcast it all over the world. And yes, it seems to hypnotize those who let 'out there' rule them. But, let's get real. How much of our taxpayer $$ really goes to the 'people' of any country. Sure, there are probably some great photo ops put out (how do we get more people to recognize that phoney/baloney), but look at where the USAID $$ went.
I can go off on quite a tangent if allowed.
I'm trying to know in my heart what I Can accomplish, what I Can change.
I appreciate all truthful/positive knowledge (it refreshes the soul).
I pray and encourage all to find in your own being the way to strength and love, a way towards light and away from darkness. We can talk to the Divine. We can ask the Divine to help us help ourselves. We each have a gift. The marvelous Malones know theirs and spend it sharing with those who wish to learn. What a world that could be.
I was not suggesting we do it for them. I was suggesting we broadcast our advances and results. We invite scrutiny. We share how to if asked. Maybe offer loans? They themselves have to be the catalyst.
I'm not so sure it's only a global concern. The United States lost its way agriculturally a long time ago. I can't think of a better place to embrace regenerative farming than the nation that led the way to conventional farming and all its ills.
The breath of topics you cover and the depth in which you cover them is astonishing Dr. Malone. This article is both fascinating and frightening. We have been diversified corp and livestock producers as are most farm and ranch people here in the southern plains of Oklahoma. We attempted no-till for 8-10 years and simply could not make it work. We had also began to question the wisdom of all the chemicals over tillage. Because of the problems encountered with the no-till efforts we transitioned to an all cattle operation. About the time this was happening we were influenced by Kit Pharo of Pharo cattle company and started attempting to fit our cattle to our environment and instituted some regenerative practices. Frankly, it has been a long haul with some clear wins and a lot of problems and questions. We recently attended a two day seminar billed to address regenerative practices and some of the problems being experienced. In my estimation they were novices who had none of the real world experience required to answer the difficult question we have developed after engaging in regenerative practices since 2018. There are many who would like to charge you for their “services”. Finding people who want to provide those services who have the knowledge and wisdom for real world application is a problem. It pretty much feels like we are on our own. I would say that we have a very long way to go. We will keep moving forward as best we can. Some of it is working.
I grew up in Tulsa. Know nothing about farming, little about ranching but I applaud you and am so grateful for your ongoing toil and trouble.
I know you most likely don't want to be called this, but to me you and your kind are Heroes. Please take care of yourselves, and God Bless You ALL and your tireless work ethics!
For over 100 years the farm seed company I own with my brother and employees has produced, processed and marketed the most diverse organic/non gmo inventory of farm and field seed in North America. We are also the largest USDA organic farm seed company in the US. The flip side is ONLY 1% of farming is organic/regenerative In the US farmers can still use untreated conventional seed to plant their organic acres. Can ai actually help reduce chemical and inorganic fertilizer inputs and allow farmers to make a living? Maybe, but these ai start ups are going to run into real life problems. Like cover crops themselves, all these technologies are not going to be adapted instantly or ever and must be slowly introduced into farming operations and often don't work because of weather, weed pressure and the decades of practice required to get them into meaningful crop rotations. Remember regenerative farming is hardly NEW and was substantially what all farmers were doing until the 1950's. Then NEW technologies and practices came along and well...you can see what happened.
Off topic but relating on the Malone issue on quantum computing: the Texas Minute had a blurb about communities up in arms over data centers which involve utilizing lots of water for cooling that developers/contractors in collusion with water companies have already sold out from under us. They asked opinions in a survey and we brought up the idea these data centers could be fossilized by the arrival of quantum computing which incidentally requires much less cooling. Thanks for that bug in our ear Dr. M
"Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field." — attributed to Dwight D. Eisenhower (a sage IMO)
If you have a house, a yard, you should be farming small scale!!!! This used to be done by everyone, even neighborhoods, parks had community plots, so everyone got involved with growing for them selves, small scale, but it was great for the time. Why not bring all that back?
Here in Mpls. there are many small raised beds offered in condo living, neighborhood plots and many are growing crops in their yards. Balcony growing is not unusual either, it is catching on.
My first thought, actually, ran counter to the first line: yes, I want a robot to pick my lettuce. Rather, anything above the ground is fine - what I want is a robot that can get down on its knees to dig potatoes. Even with the improvements I’ve been able to effect this winter, getting down, much less getting back up, is rough. Still, the momentary discomfort is worth it - home grow’d taters rival the joy of fresh off the vine ( 🤣 cane) corn.
Speaking of robot "weeders," an article about a laser "weeder" came across my desk last year - instead of disturbing the soil and/or nearby crop, this huge machine zaps the baddies where they sit.
And finally, one of the first bios I ever read was about a man named George Washington Carver - I think it appropriate to include him as a forefather of regenerative farming. [side note: me thinks I should reacquaint meself with GWC as a quick Google search just now turned up personal details I do not remember from that earlier study - readily admit that in my younger years was more in tune with the way of things than the way of people (I’d like to think that has flip-flopped)
Very encouraging perspective on how technology can be harnessed to support more natural and sustainable agricultural systems. I appreciate your pointing out how A.I. is no different from any other technology in that its potential for positive or negative effects depends on how it is deployed and by whom. Great power requires great responsibility. Power also corrupts. We will see the battle between our better and worse tendencies play out in A.I. and as always, it will be an epic fight.
I listened to Secretary Kennedy's interview with Joe Rogan. They discussed regenerative farming and of course glyphosate. The news reports of tariff talks and other countries not buying US agricultural products, things make sense. With the chemical based corporate farming, no wonder other countries hesitate to choose American food stuffs. Hopefully we can grow healthier farms and people.
Fascinating article and one worth sharing. Thank you, Drs. Malone!
But…regarding any government intervention or surveillance…
Remember Ronald Reagan’s 9 scariest words quote: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
Government help usually mucks things up while spending Other People’s Money in a profligate and non-productive manner.
We also must consider impacts of pesticides/herbicides/rodenticides and other “cides” along with GEOENGINEERING. All are poisoning every part of the earth and every living being on it. Regenerative farming will have a tough row to hoe (pun intended) if we fail to focus on all parts of the picture, not just whiz-bang technology.
Still, the AI + regenerative agricultural team-up is fascinating and could provide important answers to the horrific loss of plants, insects, microbes, nematodes, and larger animals along with vastly degraded food, soil, water, and air quality of current times.
When I think of all the things that could go wrong in this world and have actually gone wrong, "The meek shall inherit the earth" comes to mind.
Also, tying in to the Malone's totalitarian themes: When I see the Amish or Mennonites in the surrounding countryside I marvel that they are largely the same German stock that were mutated into Nazis. It just makes me shake my head and becomes very personal knowing that I have 50% German heritage.
I can appreciate the precision with which farming can be done with AI data and remote sensing in real time on a field by field basis. Even the "feed the world" concept, which stimulated me to get into ag is now to me more of a *how* to feed the world question, which regenerative answers and is certainly helped by precision data.
As said at the end of the article, there are potential drawbacks such as who owns the data and is everything based on the mai stream US and western EU type farming. I'm more snd more libertarian and am skeptical of innocent accumulation of such data with "puppeteers" clearly in charge of most mainstream initiatives.
While appreciative of a way of getting regenerative acreage enlarged and livestock reintegrated into the landscape, agriculture still has the word *culture* in it, and I'll always see that as top priority. To me, that means emphasizing local community interaction between farm, farmers, and town (both vegetable producers and livestock holders). Perhaps most meaningful to human psyche is the hands-on animal husbandry to enhance the farmer's and animal's sense experience with the landscape that we are caring for.
Nothing beats the shadow of the farmer on their land. Still should hold true even with the precision ag peering down from above.
AI, technology in farming / AI, technology in industry - doing more with less. This is a little (OK, maybe a lot) off topic but I’m concerned about the humanity in where we’re going, and how we’re getting there. Humans were not designed for idleness. The more our machines do for us the less WE do for ourselves. Not talking about the dangerous stuff; but my experience is that a large percentage of people (and that number seems to grow yearly 😔) are not self starters - even doing the bare minimum to stay alive is difficult.
When we further distance ourselves from the activities necessary to maintain a population, a society, the importance of those elements necessary for a successful society will be lost. Work, a daily struggle is necessary
As a result of government efforts and subsidies, we have a NOAA weather system that reports fake data from ghost weather stations. The excuse for this long standing problem is that they can extrapolate data from the remaining, surrounding stations to create data to ascribe to the no longer existing stations. From this kind of “data” the global warming 🤣 predictions have come. How can we prevent such subsidized fakery from governing soil use?? The faked weather data has given us vast lithium mines and wind farms and solar farms on arable land, and forced production of all electric vehicles. What’s to prevent similar damage from increasing government management of soils??
While I like regenerative farming, I fear government oversight.
Agree with concluding sentence
I do trust John Shewchuk, retired airforce meterologist and consultant meteorologist who has personally located over 200 of the ghost NOAA weather stations during his golden years. One of them is close to weedomland. He's had a lot to do with the ability of people to fly in inclement weather, and I'd bet his life work has even influenced your travels.
My understanding is that these NOAA stations peaked at about 1500 in the 50s and have declined in number ever since, though data is still being attributed to many of them after they disappeared.
Modeling from modelled (fake) "data" is what economists and sociologists do, and it's the little guy who gets most adversely affected by the results.
Ditto that for sure!
Just a word of caution and humility when it comes to doing things on a planetary scale. While this is really exciting stuff, the idea of monitoring bird songs triggered my fears that this could play into global surveillance and tokenization of everything. Will a small farmer be forced to do something on his/her land for the 'greater good'? It is in a way reminiscent of Mao's 4 pests campaign which yielded suboptimal results. I like the comment by @randallstoehr that mentioned battery powered drones - at least there you could own the drones and data and be more divorced from big tech (aside from GPS of course).
Question here. Are the satellites Elon Musk's satellite
Very complete and necessary overview. This application of AI is less frightening to me and still needs oversight and direction. A combination of human love of the land and technical support could be ideal. Now we're talking.
"And by 2050, we will need to feed roughly ten billion people. That is a lot of pressure on a system that is already showing cracks."
This seems a shift away from local concerns and backyard farming that have previously been emphasized on this Substack.
Ten billion people. While western civilization has below replacement level birthrates.
I don't want to launch missiles into the yards of people on the other side of the world. I don't want their children to be killed by pharmaceutical malice. But neither do I want to be responsible for feeding them; or for the community behaviors they'll defend with violence and that compound the miseries of their existence.
I want a limited sphere of concern, defined by boundaries and shared values. Sometimes it feels naive and fanciful.
But, but, all that profit for agrabusinesses!!
Pretty much on the same page - tho, I’m only had a couple sips of tea so far, so let mull it all over 😉.
Anyway, we don’t HAVE to feed the world: food, energy, technology should be used much like how POTUS Trump was attempting to use tariffs - carrot and stick. For the life of m, don’t understand this predilection to feed/house/muscle up enemies who’ve sworn to put us under.
Ideology matters: you point a missile at me I’m not gonna scratch your back
Sure sure. Mull it over, and you can decide whether to call me an idiot or not after the caffeine kicks in.
No no, wouldn’t do that; but consider: the two most populous nations are below repopulation levels (2.1 births/woman) as are all/most western and asian nations. Only Arab and African nations consistently exceed that 2.1 birth rate.
And as I said before, I don’t believe we have an OBLIGATION to feed people who would take/accept our resources but are willing to slit our throats in the dark. And please, don’t try to flip Christ’s words inside out: He was concerned with the individual, not nations - if you want to give your resources to people sworn to kill you, praises (just make sure you’ve paid off your debts (esp to me) before you do so). Not all cultures are equivalent - that some cultures are willing to kill our culture should ( SHOULD ) make that obvious.
Might we better look at this from the standpoint of setting an example that others can learn of, consider results and follow if they wish to develop,for their own benefits?
Sure, to an extent, but keep in mind what the goobers in Gaza did with the resources we’ve given them over the years. If ever there was an excuse to violate the no till protocol to farming - that whole place needs to be tilled as deep and as broad as can happen and let the aboriginals inhabiting it become someone else’s problem.
Even with "friendly" places/nations/people groups, there’s only so much that can be done before you’ve transformed a marginally self sufficient people into dependents. That we see the same results in our own nation ought’a be warning enough that doing the same TO others ought’a be discouraged. Think about it, we’ve nearly impoverished the productive class in America in an effort to lift people out of poverty - with little success, where in the world has our transfer of wealth been shown to do what it was advertised as doing? Instead, we’ve bred resentment and animosity. We’ve replaced wisdom with feel-goodism to the detriment of nearly everyone.
We all know the ploy is to keep the 'little' people down, but some of us just won't! (stay down). There is some strength in each person Who won't allow "out there" to dictate their lives if they listen.
How many times do we have to hear, We 'Care' about you. We 'Want to Help you'. What a racket, and yes they broadcast it all over the world. And yes, it seems to hypnotize those who let 'out there' rule them. But, let's get real. How much of our taxpayer $$ really goes to the 'people' of any country. Sure, there are probably some great photo ops put out (how do we get more people to recognize that phoney/baloney), but look at where the USAID $$ went.
I can go off on quite a tangent if allowed.
I'm trying to know in my heart what I Can accomplish, what I Can change.
I appreciate all truthful/positive knowledge (it refreshes the soul).
I pray and encourage all to find in your own being the way to strength and love, a way towards light and away from darkness. We can talk to the Divine. We can ask the Divine to help us help ourselves. We each have a gift. The marvelous Malones know theirs and spend it sharing with those who wish to learn. What a world that could be.
I was not suggesting we do it for them. I was suggesting we broadcast our advances and results. We invite scrutiny. We share how to if asked. Maybe offer loans? They themselves have to be the catalyst.
That sounds pretty nice unless you're talking about the Muslim invasion.
No invasions by anyone!
I'm not so sure it's only a global concern. The United States lost its way agriculturally a long time ago. I can't think of a better place to embrace regenerative farming than the nation that led the way to conventional farming and all its ills.
The breath of topics you cover and the depth in which you cover them is astonishing Dr. Malone. This article is both fascinating and frightening. We have been diversified corp and livestock producers as are most farm and ranch people here in the southern plains of Oklahoma. We attempted no-till for 8-10 years and simply could not make it work. We had also began to question the wisdom of all the chemicals over tillage. Because of the problems encountered with the no-till efforts we transitioned to an all cattle operation. About the time this was happening we were influenced by Kit Pharo of Pharo cattle company and started attempting to fit our cattle to our environment and instituted some regenerative practices. Frankly, it has been a long haul with some clear wins and a lot of problems and questions. We recently attended a two day seminar billed to address regenerative practices and some of the problems being experienced. In my estimation they were novices who had none of the real world experience required to answer the difficult question we have developed after engaging in regenerative practices since 2018. There are many who would like to charge you for their “services”. Finding people who want to provide those services who have the knowledge and wisdom for real world application is a problem. It pretty much feels like we are on our own. I would say that we have a very long way to go. We will keep moving forward as best we can. Some of it is working.
I grew up in Tulsa. Know nothing about farming, little about ranching but I applaud you and am so grateful for your ongoing toil and trouble.
I know you most likely don't want to be called this, but to me you and your kind are Heroes. Please take care of yourselves, and God Bless You ALL and your tireless work ethics!
Everyone who gets up and goes to work every day and takes their life responsibilities seriously is a hero. We all have our sphere of influence.
Tony, you are very impressive! So inspiring to learn about your story. Trailblazing is hard!
Doing the right thing as best we can every single day is the trail we must all blaze.
Spread the word!
For over 100 years the farm seed company I own with my brother and employees has produced, processed and marketed the most diverse organic/non gmo inventory of farm and field seed in North America. We are also the largest USDA organic farm seed company in the US. The flip side is ONLY 1% of farming is organic/regenerative In the US farmers can still use untreated conventional seed to plant their organic acres. Can ai actually help reduce chemical and inorganic fertilizer inputs and allow farmers to make a living? Maybe, but these ai start ups are going to run into real life problems. Like cover crops themselves, all these technologies are not going to be adapted instantly or ever and must be slowly introduced into farming operations and often don't work because of weather, weed pressure and the decades of practice required to get them into meaningful crop rotations. Remember regenerative farming is hardly NEW and was substantially what all farmers were doing until the 1950's. Then NEW technologies and practices came along and well...you can see what happened.
Off topic but relating on the Malone issue on quantum computing: the Texas Minute had a blurb about communities up in arms over data centers which involve utilizing lots of water for cooling that developers/contractors in collusion with water companies have already sold out from under us. They asked opinions in a survey and we brought up the idea these data centers could be fossilized by the arrival of quantum computing which incidentally requires much less cooling. Thanks for that bug in our ear Dr. M
Micro nuclear reactors for data centers will be here soon enough. It’s a brave New World.
Farming is easy.......if you don't have to make a living doing it.
"Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field." — attributed to Dwight D. Eisenhower (a sage IMO)
Agree....he was.
HA!
If you have a house, a yard, you should be farming small scale!!!! This used to be done by everyone, even neighborhoods, parks had community plots, so everyone got involved with growing for them selves, small scale, but it was great for the time. Why not bring all that back?
Here in Mpls. there are many small raised beds offered in condo living, neighborhood plots and many are growing crops in their yards. Balcony growing is not unusual either, it is catching on.
Here also!
Linda, I don't know where you live, but in the PNW, everybodies doin' it...!
My first thought, actually, ran counter to the first line: yes, I want a robot to pick my lettuce. Rather, anything above the ground is fine - what I want is a robot that can get down on its knees to dig potatoes. Even with the improvements I’ve been able to effect this winter, getting down, much less getting back up, is rough. Still, the momentary discomfort is worth it - home grow’d taters rival the joy of fresh off the vine ( 🤣 cane) corn.
Speaking of robot "weeders," an article about a laser "weeder" came across my desk last year - instead of disturbing the soil and/or nearby crop, this huge machine zaps the baddies where they sit.
And finally, one of the first bios I ever read was about a man named George Washington Carver - I think it appropriate to include him as a forefather of regenerative farming. [side note: me thinks I should reacquaint meself with GWC as a quick Google search just now turned up personal details I do not remember from that earlier study - readily admit that in my younger years was more in tune with the way of things than the way of people (I’d like to think that has flip-flopped)
Very encouraging perspective on how technology can be harnessed to support more natural and sustainable agricultural systems. I appreciate your pointing out how A.I. is no different from any other technology in that its potential for positive or negative effects depends on how it is deployed and by whom. Great power requires great responsibility. Power also corrupts. We will see the battle between our better and worse tendencies play out in A.I. and as always, it will be an epic fight.
Mark, That is an essence statement - hit the nail on its head.
Thank you again Drs MALONE;
Your assistance and research is greatly appreciated! And for only $60/year?
https://davidmerrill.substack.com/p/quantum-consciousness
I look at it as an investment, one that pays dividends far greater than the yearly subscription rate. For me anyway.
I listened to Secretary Kennedy's interview with Joe Rogan. They discussed regenerative farming and of course glyphosate. The news reports of tariff talks and other countries not buying US agricultural products, things make sense. With the chemical based corporate farming, no wonder other countries hesitate to choose American food stuffs. Hopefully we can grow healthier farms and people.
Fascinating article and one worth sharing. Thank you, Drs. Malone!
But…regarding any government intervention or surveillance…
Remember Ronald Reagan’s 9 scariest words quote: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
Government help usually mucks things up while spending Other People’s Money in a profligate and non-productive manner.
We also must consider impacts of pesticides/herbicides/rodenticides and other “cides” along with GEOENGINEERING. All are poisoning every part of the earth and every living being on it. Regenerative farming will have a tough row to hoe (pun intended) if we fail to focus on all parts of the picture, not just whiz-bang technology.
Still, the AI + regenerative agricultural team-up is fascinating and could provide important answers to the horrific loss of plants, insects, microbes, nematodes, and larger animals along with vastly degraded food, soil, water, and air quality of current times.
Has there been a comparison between this new technology and the practices employed for years by the Amish farmers?
Doubtful
The difference is that the Amish don't have to regenerate their soil. They care for it from year to year to ensure that it's always healthy.
Joy, yes, the Amish have a significant head start!
When I think of all the things that could go wrong in this world and have actually gone wrong, "The meek shall inherit the earth" comes to mind.
Also, tying in to the Malone's totalitarian themes: When I see the Amish or Mennonites in the surrounding countryside I marvel that they are largely the same German stock that were mutated into Nazis. It just makes me shake my head and becomes very personal knowing that I have 50% German heritage.
Me too. ;-I
I can appreciate the precision with which farming can be done with AI data and remote sensing in real time on a field by field basis. Even the "feed the world" concept, which stimulated me to get into ag is now to me more of a *how* to feed the world question, which regenerative answers and is certainly helped by precision data.
As said at the end of the article, there are potential drawbacks such as who owns the data and is everything based on the mai stream US and western EU type farming. I'm more snd more libertarian and am skeptical of innocent accumulation of such data with "puppeteers" clearly in charge of most mainstream initiatives.
While appreciative of a way of getting regenerative acreage enlarged and livestock reintegrated into the landscape, agriculture still has the word *culture* in it, and I'll always see that as top priority. To me, that means emphasizing local community interaction between farm, farmers, and town (both vegetable producers and livestock holders). Perhaps most meaningful to human psyche is the hands-on animal husbandry to enhance the farmer's and animal's sense experience with the landscape that we are caring for.
Nothing beats the shadow of the farmer on their land. Still should hold true even with the precision ag peering down from above.
AI, technology in farming / AI, technology in industry - doing more with less. This is a little (OK, maybe a lot) off topic but I’m concerned about the humanity in where we’re going, and how we’re getting there. Humans were not designed for idleness. The more our machines do for us the less WE do for ourselves. Not talking about the dangerous stuff; but my experience is that a large percentage of people (and that number seems to grow yearly 😔) are not self starters - even doing the bare minimum to stay alive is difficult.
When we further distance ourselves from the activities necessary to maintain a population, a society, the importance of those elements necessary for a successful society will be lost. Work, a daily struggle is necessary
Wise words!!